Rovers earn 8th succesive cup victory over upton

SHARLSTON Rovers continued their dominance of the Brian McDermott City Plasterers Cup when they lifted it for the 8th successive time thanks to a 24-14 victory over Upton on Tuesday night.

The BARLA National Cup finalists were worthy winners but were pushed all the way by a determined and well-drilled Upton that are going well in Yorkshire League Division 1 this season.

Upton were level going into the last time minutes and looked capable of causing a cup upset before Sharlston pulled away with two late tries to seal the win at College Grove.

The Quarry Lane sideís strong defence kept Sharlston out until the 16th minute when Gareth Davies powered over the line for the opening try.

Steven Beal put in a man of the match performance for Upton and it was his boot that kicked over their first points from a penalty goal just after the half-hour mark.

The close scoreline was a fair reflection on the way the game was going but Rovers extended their lead minutes before half-time when Davies went over the line again and Aleksander Lysokon, playing his last game for the club, kicked the conversion.

Upton needed to bounce back in the second half and they did just that as Sam Parkin and Chris Hulme scored two quickfire tries. Beal kicked the first conversion successfully to edge Upton ahead.

They held the lead for just five minutes though as Craige Miles responded with a try to put the Weeland Road side back ahead.

The see-saw encounter took another twist when Beal got Upton level with a penalty goal.

But Sharlston had the energy to finish stronger and tries from Carl Saville and Davies, completing his hat-trick, sealed the win for Rovers.